Poignant poetry, satire, sufferings at 'Haqeeqat-e-Kashmir'

Amid tight security, Haqeeqat-e-Kashmir, a concert parallel to Ehsaas-e-Kashmir, on Saturday saw poets, rappers, singers and several victims of two decades of violence assembling to tell their poignant tales.

"The concert is against Germany's attempt to dilute disputed nature of Kashmir. We thank people for making it a success," said the spokesman of the event.

The show started around 4.30pm at Lal Chowk's Municipal Park with poetry of Nayeem Ahmad, a resident of Baramulla who was killed in 1993, days after he wrote the poem.

It was followed by singer Irfan Bilal's song highlighting the sufferings of the past two decades. "Ye kaem woan che subhas gasnai Digar (Who wished your dawn to turn into dusk)," sang he.

"Resistance is a choice, it is gonna make some noise" rendered by two rappers was interspersed with pro-freedom slogans "we want freedom". There were pro-Afzal slogans by a few present in the audience. Local satire 'ladishaw' was used to take potshots at the government and security forces.

The civil society members and victim families, which included half-windows whose husbands are missing, and families of those victims who remain untraced after being picked up security agencies, described 'Ehsaas-e-Kashmir' as "elitist and far from reality".

"Our concert is the event of common Kashmiri who is suffering at the hands of India and breathe pain and agony," said Dr Altaf Hussain, one of the organisers of the event.

A Kashmiri Pandit, Inder Salim, a performing artiste, had flown from New Delhi to be part of the concert. "This is people's concert. I express solidarity with my people. I am part this people's movement," said Salim.

The event concluded around 6.30pm with Bhandh Pather, a local stage show where characters enacted a play to highlight the suffering of people.

The police used mild baton charge and water canon to disperse the participants in the end when they tried to take shape of a procession.

"We are the real Kashmir. My son has not returned for the past 10 years. Our relatives are not given passport. We are asked to show identity card in our own land," said Shabir Ahmad, who has lost three relatives in the two-decade long conflict.

The government at the eleventh hour decided to allow the concert on Friday evening, about which many security agencies had expressed apprehensions of it creating a major law and order problem.